


Finders Keepers...

by Madmad3x



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/M, Multi, Talking Sword
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-07-27 05:42:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16212626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madmad3x/pseuds/Madmad3x
Summary: A Master thief and his comrades go on magnificent adventures across Skyrim to retrieve artifacts lost to time. Then they have to deal with gods, Daedra, monsters, a dead hero, and stupid people. Oh yeah, and a Talking Sword.





	1. What the... Sword?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SoulStealer1987](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoulStealer1987/gifts).



> Hey Peeps. This is the first chapter of my first Fanfic. Hope you guys enjoy it! By the way, if it’s in italics, that means it’s either an excerpt of his “BooK” that he’s reading, or the title of something important. Or a word someone’s emphasizing for some reason or another. But if it’s In Quotations and Italics, then its his thoughts. For now. This’ll probably going to change next chapter.

_...wind, blowing through his cloak… billowing in a shadowed cloud, shrouding him from the moonlight, hiding his face from my view. As I asked for his name he replied_ \- “ARTHUR!” a sharp voice shouts.

“What in Oblivion do you want Karliah!” I shout back. “I was in the middle of my story…” I mutter the last part under my breath.

“Bryn was looking for you in the Flagon. He said he found something that he thinks you’ll like…” Karliah responds.

“Ugh, fine. I’ll go see what he wants.” I stand from my seat where I was quite content with reading my book before Karliah walked in. Then I proceed to slip my book into my satchel.

“How do you even fit all of your stuff into that tiny thing?” Karliah asks me.

“Magic my lady. Magic.”

“Ugh… why do you always use that as an answer Arthur?”

“What do you expect from me? I mean, it’s even funnier when it’s the truth.”

“Just go see Brynjolf ‘Mr. Dead-Eye’.” Karliah bids, as she laces my last name with almost more sarcasm then I use.

“OK, Miss ‘Purple-eye’...” I sarcastically reply.

“Watch it…”

“Hehe, or what?” I chuckle as I walk towards the door of Nightingale Hall.

Karliah just stands there giving me the death stare.

 

As I’m almost to the door I hear her shout, “I might let you finish your book tonight… That is, unless I want to have a little ‘training’ before I go to bed…”

To that, I turn around, only to see her leaning around the corner of the hallway. When she sees me looking at her, she winks mischievously at me before walking away.

As I walk out the door I mutter under my breath, “Damn… I guess I might actually have to come back here tonight…”

____________________________________________________

 

As I slip past the guards and down through the sewers, I think in my head, _“Why not, let’s take the long route this time…”_ Soon I slide into the newly refurbished _Ragged Flagon_ , I stand from my crouch and marvel at the fruit of my labors. Then I notice out of the corner of my eye a ripple in the shadows. But I have enough experience to know not to look towards the ripple, or even act like I saw it. Instead I just keep looking at the tapestries and rugs, the fires and the shrubs in the pots… Then I spin around and catch the fist that flew towards me.

“C’mon Vex, when are you going to realize you can’t sneak up on me?”

“Damnit Arthur… How in Oblivion do you never seem alerted to my movements?” Vex grumbles as I release her hand.

“Because I know that if I do, you’ll be alerted and I won’t have the chance to see your reaction when you fail to sneak up on me!” I chuckle as Vex rolls her eyes.

“Where’s Bryn? I heard he was looking for me.” I ask after Vex breaks out laughing.

“Damnit Arthur, you’re the only person who can make me laugh like that.” Then she answers my question; “Yeah, he’s sleeping in the Cistern”

“K, thanks Vex.” Then I start to walk away, right before Vex Walks up behind me and whispers into my ears ; “Want to enjoy a few drinks at the Bee and Barb Tonight? And maybe enjoy a few hours of each other's… ‘Company’?” Then she whirls in front of me and stares into my eyes. Well, _eye_.

“Umm… I have a job I have to do tonight with Karliah… Y’know, Nightingale stuff…” I fumble the excuse out. “But maybe tomorrow night if I’m not busy…”

“Heh, ok Mister Player” She mocks as she walks away with a smirk on her face.

 

I walk into the _Flagon’s_ Cistern, sliding my eyes across the bunks circling the edge of the water. I didn’t see Brynjolf in any of them. _“Damnit… Where is He…”_ Then I notice a head full of Red hair.

“Brynjolf!” I shout across the Cistern, “You wanted to see me?”

“Ah, You’re finally here Lad! Did Vex catch you with your pants down again if you know what I mean?” Brynjolf Laughs at his little joke.

“Matter a fact, no. Because if she did, I would have gouged her eyes out with my arrows. And anyway, that was a one time thing. We were high on some skooma we stole. Some really strong shit.” I frown as I remember how bad of a hangover I had the next day. “Anyway, why’d you have Karliah interrupt my reading?”

“Oh yeah, I found something. Some kind of map… or diagram… or something like that.”

“Ok then, show me this ‘Map-Diagram-thingy’” I mock as I follow Bryn into the vault. He leads me over to a table that had been cleared to accommodate for a piece of paper covered in drawings. As I walk up to the table and examine the paper, Bryn starts explaining; “I was wandering an old ruined mansion out in the woods, and I found this In an old chest that had a waterproofing rune placed on it.” As he pointed to the edges of the paper he continued. “Somehow that rune also managed to protect the paper for insects and other damaging things that ruin paper over time.”

“Do you know what this shows?” I ask as I look at the detailed, but slightly rushed looking, drawings that seem to show an old Nordic ruin, with what appears to be a black sword that has a purple glow.

Brynjolf Furrows his brow in thought. “I’m pretty sure that its a map of some ruin that has some sort of enchanted sword in the center. It also looks like it has hints to some sort of puzzles or obstacles that someone would need to get passed to in order to get to the sword.”

“Hmm…” I start to think. “Well now, when are we going to get that magic sword?”

“Wait wait wait, we cant go get the sword. We don’t even know where the ruin is!” Brynjolf looks surprised. “And even if we did, we dont know what any of this means! Much less if the sword is even worth it! I mean, what happens if it turns out to be cursed, or completely useless!?”

“Yeah, but what if the sword is some God-Weapon? Something really powerful? Or at least valuable…” I respond. “And plus, we know the name of the Ruin: _Vulok-Kaask_.”

“Where do you get that??” Brynjolf yelps

“Right here. It means “Eclipse Cell” in Dovahzul.” I explaine as I point to the top of the paper. “It also has the cordinites on the bottom. Written in the navigational writting system of the ancient Dragon Empire.”

“Wait, “Eclipse Cell”?? What if this is some kind of prison for some sort of living-darkness? What would you do about that Lad?”

“I would kill said living darkness.” I respond with the most flat and serious tone I can muster.

“Well, fine. I guess now that we know where we’re going as long as you know how to read that navigational system, and we also know that we may be going into a prison…” Brynjolf all of a sudden loses his normal calm-and -collected cool and looks honestly worried for a split second before regaining his composure.

“Then let’s get going. I’ll go grab Karliah. We might need the whole Trinity for this.”

“Yeah, I agree. I’ll get some supplies ready for the trip…”

 

I turn and walk towards the Cisterns main exit. _“Well, Karliah and I are going to have to wait for a few days until after this trip”._

____________________________________________________

 

_“I. Hate.Walking.”_ Were the thoughts that kept going through my head as the Nightingale Trinity traveled across Skyrim to the Cordonites that are written on the map. _“If these two didn’t need me to read this map and the Dovahzul, I would have gone done something else by now.”_ Karliah, Brynjolf, and I continue to walk in silence for another half-mile.

“Ugh, Arthur. How much farther until we’re there…” Karliah says in an almost whiny voice.

“Oh C’mon lassy, you’ll be fine!” Brynjolf eggs on.

“Aww… are you two using your own ways of saying ‘Are we there yet’?” I smile as I mock my two companions. “Oops, wait. Wrong universe, sorry.”

I chuckle as the other two stare at me in almost comical confusion. Then I turn and keep on walking, waving me hand to urge the other two on.

“Don’t worry, we’re close. Only another hour of walking.”

The other Nightingales sigh as they start walking again, too tired to even try to walk light on their feet.

About an hour later we climb over a hill to look upon a crevice in the ground. We walk up to the crack and stare into the darkness below, as we start to notice a few small, twinkling lights on the edges of what appears to be a massive hollow column that opens at the crevice we were looking down in.

“How the Fuck are we supposed to get down there from here?” Brynjolf asks, clearly angry.

“Well, we might be able to survive the fall. I mean, there might be water at the bottom. I’ve seen something like that before.” As I say this, I realize neither of the other two are heeding me any attention, as they are arguing each other.

“Well maybe you should just jump and see if you grew some wings!” Karliah is shouting at Bryn.

“Well Maybe You should-”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP! BOTH OF YOU!” I explode. “YOU TWO ARE ALMOST AS ANNOYING AS DELVIN IS WHEN HE’S HIGH!”

Karliah and Brynjolf just stare at me in disbelief.

“Ok, now that I have your attention…” I say this as I approach them. “JUMP!” I yell as I shove them of the ridge into the column. Before leaping after them myself. I hear the air Whooshing past my ears as we fall. I also hear the screams of Nocturnal’s other champions.Then I hear two splashes... Right before I’m plunged into freezing cold water.

____________________________________________________

 

I wake up sputtering before rolling painfully onto my side before throwing up about 10 buckets of water. When I’m done clearing my lungs and stomach, i roll over again to see Brynjolf waking up and doing the same thing i just did. Then I sit up and look over to Karliah before looking away when I realize she was completely naked. _“Damn, i should probably cover her up before Bryn sees her. I don’t think she thought we would wake up before her. And I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want Bryn to see her… ‘stuff’. I know I Wouldn’t.”_ I stand up and drag a blanket out of her pack (our packs have waterproofing runes on them. Except for me, because I don’t have a pack. I have my satchel. Which is also waterproof.) and then I cover her with it before turning to see if Bryn’s doing fine. He’s just finishing throwing up as I look at him.

“Hey Bryn, You doing fine?” I ask my obnoxious Imperial friend.

“I just nearly drowned and then threw up and you have the nerve to ask if I’m doing fine? Lad, of course I’m not doing fine!” Brynjolf spits at me before turning around to throw up again. Behind me I hear Karliah mumbling awake.

“Ugh, Thanks for the blanket Arthur…” She mutters.

“You want some clothes to put on?” As I ask that I’m taken aback by how my natural Breton accent came out.

“Uh Um…” I cough. “Do you Karliah?” I correct my accent this time.

“Yes please…” She moans in pain. “Ugh, I hurt from that fall…” She mumbles as I hand her a fresh set of Thieves Guild armor.

“What are we going to do about this wet armor?” Brynjolf asks from behind me.

“Well…” I start to think as I lift the blanket in a way so Karliah has some privacy. “I think I might have something in my satchel…” I cast a levitation spell on the blanket so it stays in place as I start searching through my satchel.

“Oh come on… I know I have them in here somewhere…” I keep fumbling through all the rubbish I have. “Ah hah! I found them!” I pull three sacks from my Satchel. “I have enchanted these with heat runes so they will dry any wet things we put in them. Because I figured we would somehow get our clothes wet so…”

Karliah steps out from behind the blanket as she finishes pulling on her shirt. “How do you know those won’t just burn our clothes?”

“Well, for one, the enchantment isn’t strong enough to burn them, and two, they’re wet.”

“Well then recast that levitation so I can get changed Lad…” Bryn says as he pulls his clothes out of his pack.

____________________________________________________

 

It took us about two hours after we finished changing and packing for us to make it through the cave system before we got to the door into the actual ruin. _Vulok-Kaask_. The three of us stood marveling at the beauty and size of the Main Entrance. It was engraved with designs of an island, floating above a map of Tamriel. Engraved above the island was a picture of two gears, one larger than the other, interlocked at a diagonal angle. The area surrounding the pictures are engravings of wisps… Swirls of mist that have monstrous faces of humans, elves, and animals. Engraved at the top of the door was a picture of a towering, elven figure carved wearing regal robes and jewelry. But soon I notice a figure looming over his shoulder. This figure was carved different then all of the other engravings. The outline was carved just as deep as all the others, but the detailing was shallowly cut, giving it the look of a faded shadow. But the shape was different then the Elven one. Giving off the feeling that it was a spirit that was either following or bound to the Elf.

“That… Is Beautiful…” Karliah Mutters after about twenty minutes of everyone just staring.

“That is really cool.” Brynjolf speaks in pure awe.

“Guys, I agree… but that thing is very… Very… Creepy.” I start feeling a little worried about this. “What does that Figure even mean? Or what about the one behind him? Or what about the damn floating island or the gears… Or what about the Ghostly figures…”

“Well…” Karliah muses… “Let’s go inside and see if we can find out”

“Ok lass, let’s do it.” Bryn is saying as he walks up to the door. Before he can touch it I cast a simple repulsion  spell and cast the door open.

“Yeah, let’s go on in.” I smile as I walk past Bryn as he looks at me with a look of disbelief; “ Well lad, now I wanted to open that door!”


	2. What the... Sword? Again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey peeps. Chapter 2 here! If you didn't notice last chapter, Arthur does break the fourth-wall every-once-and-awhile, quickly correcting himself with “Oops, wrong universe, sorry.” But anyway, let’s get going!

As soon as we enter the ruin, we stop dead from the light flooding through the massive entrance chamber. Once my eyes adjust to the light I notice a immense black stone carved into the shape of an Imperial-Ebony Sword. Then my eyes wander across the rest of the chamber. The walls are inlaid with what appears to be ebony that is molded into a massive mosaic depicting a large battle that expands throughout the rest of the chambers walls. The battle seems to be carved chronologically from the left of the Door we just came through all around the of the chamber along the walls, then over the door I just noticed on the other side of the chamber, then back around to the right of the Door behind us.

“Wow…” Brynjolf sighs. “That is the most magnificent Nordic chamber I’ve ever laid eyes upon…”

“You’re telling me…” Karliah is clearly in awe. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything related to war that is so beautiful…”

“I really hope that isn’t the sword we came here for.” I say, completely ruining the mood. “I don’t think we could even get that thing off from up there. Much less get it out of here.”

I look up at the sword. “Let’s move on through this place so we can see if we can find the actual sword.”

“Great way to ruin the moment Arthur.” Bryn stares daggers at me.

“No, I agree with him.” Karliah points down to the bottom of the walls. “It looks like some people never moved on through this room and they died.” Soon I realized that she was talking about the bones that lined the edge of the floor.

“Ok, yeah let’s get out of this beautiful death trap” Bryn agrees. “I, personally, don’t want to die today. Or anytime soon for that matter.” I start walking forward, and the other two start following me towards the other door.

 

As we travel through the rest of the ruin, we notice that almost all of the walls and the ceiling are inlaid with depictions of war, forged out of ebony. We run into Draugr  around about every corner. I start to notice that unlike other draugr, every one of them in this ruin is wearing an almost full set of Ebony armor. But only the Deathlords wore Ebony helmets, and only the Scourges and the Deathlords use Ebony weapons. Soon we make it to  _ Vulok-Kaask’s _ Puzzle Door.

“Damn.” Bryn swears under his breath. “We don’t have the Dragon Claw…”

“Actually, yes we do.” I start to look through my satchel. “Here we go.” I pull what appears to be a Dragon Claw made of Ebony. But close inspection shows that it is laced with a dark red. And the tips of the carving’s Claws are the same red as the red that’s in the main body. 

“How in Oblivion did you get that Arthur?” Karliah almost whispers to me. “I never noticed that anywhere in the tunnels.”

“That’s because it wasn’t in the tunnels.” I flip the claw over to look at the symbols on the other side. “It was in the cave system that we fell into.” I walk up to the door and spin the outer three rings to match the symbols on the claw. Then I place the claw into the central keyhole and twist it left and right. The the door clicks three times before it starts to rumble and shake. I quickly pull the claw out of the lock.

“Well, The claw works, and it looks like its made out of Ebony… But almost like it was forged with a Daedric Heart…” I muse as I look at the claw while the door slides down. “I think this ruin might have something to do with the Daedra. Maybe that’s what the name means: Eclipse-Cell. Because the Daedra are sometimes shown as a shadow that covers up the light and good of everything they touch.”

“Well lad, I’m definitely glad we brought the whole Trinity with us if this place is related to the Daedra.”

“Well, the door’s open. So let’s find out.” Karliah is already walking through the door as she says this. Bryn and I quickly rush after so we could catch up to her.

 

After wandering through a couple more tunnels and killing a few more Draugr, we finally reach the Main Burial Chamber. I notice that in the back of the chamber, instead of the usual Dovahzul word wall, was a pillar of magical light. Floating in the pillar was a sword. No, The sword! The one we were looking for! The Black sword, with a purple glow surrounding it.

“Well guys, there’s the sword.” I start walking forward. “Now, where the Fuck is it’s Guardian. All powerful items in ruins have a Guardian.” Then, as if on cue, A massive blast of black energy shoots up from the Casket in front of the pillar, shooting the lid off and through the chamber. Then I watch in a mix of awe and horror as a figure, shrouded in darkness, climbs from the casket and stares directly into my eyes. I quickly draw Chillrend and my Nightingale Blade and get ready for a fight. Behind me, I hear a bow string being drawn back and two daggers being slid out of their sheaths then-

“ **FUS-RO-DAH** !”

A blast of pure force slams into me and sends me flying backwards into the wall. My two swords fly from my grip and then I fall the the ground with a grunt. As I look up I see Bryn and Karliah Fighting this…  _ “Shadowlord…” _ I look around to see if I can see my swords anywhere. I can’t.  _ “Damn. Guess It comes down to fisticuffs.” _ I start to stand up, right before I explode into a sprint directly towards the Draugr Before Jumping into the darkness surrounding him. Then I draw upon the power of The Shadow Stone and I teleport through him.

Then I- “ **FUS-RO-DAH** !”

I fly directly over the sword. Then I land with another grunt.  _ “Damn. I need a sword…” _ Then I look up to the Black Sword.  _ “Well, that’ll do nicely.” _ Then I leap into the light and grab the sword. But before I even hit the ground, My head explodes In Pain Before an incredibly sarcastic sounding voice that sounds almost oddly like a Dunmeri Sheogorath Booms In my mind.

**_“WHO THE FUCK DECIDED IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO WAKE ME UP!”_ **

“Ugh… What in Oblivion…”

**_“I WAS SLEEPING QUITE NICELY BACK IN THIS PRISON OF A SWORD THAT WAS IN IT’S CELL OF LIGHT!”_ ** The voice keeps shouting.

Then I force myself to think towards the voice.  _ “Wait, are you the sword talking?” _

**_“YES I’M THE SWORD!”_ ** Then it stops tearing my head apart for a few seconds.  **_“Well, at least I’m the soul trapped inside of the sword. My Name’s Umbra. And you dear wielder are now holding the Umbra Sword. My eternal prison. But Now are you going to answer me?”_ **

_ “Umm… Yeah. My Name’s-” _ All of a sudden the voice- no, Umbra- Interrupts me.  **_“You do realize you can talk out loud and I can hear you, right?”_ **

_ “Umm…” _ “Well, I do now. Anyway, my name’s Arthur. Arthur Dead-Eye.” As I say this I hear Karliah scream. I quickly turn to see Brynjolf lying of the ground with a gash in his head and the Shadowlord holding up Karliah in a tendril of Darkness.  _ “We’ll finish this talk later. Can I kill with you?”  _ **_“Well duh. I’m a sword. Actually, please do. I require souls to live and I’m a little hungry... So go right ahead.”_ **

I promptly stand up and charge into the Draugr, sending him reeling from the force. He loses his concentration and drops Karliah. I quickly use The Shadow Stone to teleport and catch her. I slowly let her down as she thanks me under her breath before fainting from exhaustion. I turn to see a tendril of The Black Energy rushing forward towards me. I quickly draw Umbra before dashing out of the way. Then I twist mid-air and slash Umbra through the Energy. And much to my surprise (And evidently to the Draugr’s as well) the blade actually cut the energy and the entire tendril shatters in my face, sending me flying. Once more.  **_“Well, I didn’t think that would work. But that also oddly gave me a little soul power. Huh.”_ **

“Well my dear Talking Sword, let’s go do this again. And hope I don’t learn to fly again.”.

**_“I’m actually surprised that you haven’t broken a rib yet. Oh wait, It’s in the script.”_ **

“Hey Umbra. Wrong universe buddy.”

**_“Oo, you can do that to? Well anyway, you’re right. Sorry.”_ **

I was already standing. Or more like crouching because I was hiding in the darkness surrounding the center of the chamber. Then once again I rush towards the Shadowlord. But this time I slide on my knees past him, but not without cutting a long gash in his side on the way by. The darkness that Umbra sliced through shattered again.

“ **ZUN-HAAL-VIIK** ”

I recognize the disarm shout as soon as I here the first word.  _ “Well… Shit.” _ Then the shout hits me and… nothing. I don’t stagger, Umbra is still in my hand…  **_“Oh yeah, I probably should have let you know that I have a few of the same attributes that most Daedric artifacts have. Such as the fact that disarming magic doesn’t affect me.”_ **

“Well, that’s good to know NOW!” Then I charge the Draugr again and quickly sink Umbra hilt deep into his chest. Then all of the darkness promptly explodes in my face. But instead of blasting me back like the last two times, in starts collapsing in on its source: The Draugr Shadowlord. More specifically, the point where Umbra pierced his rotting flesh. Then as all of the darkness disappears, the Draugr it self Starts folding in on the wound. Then than whole entire Shadowlord is gone; Absorbed into The Umbra Sword.

“What the Fuck Lad. That is a very powerful sword.” Brynjolf is sitting up, staring at me and Umbra. “I guess it was a semi-good idea to come here and get the sword then.”

“Even so, both of us almost died Bryn.” Karliah points out. “That sword better be worth a lot of-”

“NO!” I shout at them. “We can’t sell him.” Both of them are staring at me like I’ve gone mad. Then again, I have been talking to a sword. Maybe I have. “The Sword is a prison for a soul or other being. His name is Umbra. And this is The Umbra Sword. He talks to me in my head.”

**_“AND I CAN EASILY TALK TO THEM TOO IF I WANT TO!”_ ** Umbra Booms. I can tell by the look on their faces that Bryn and Karliah heard it to.  **_“SO STOP TALKING ABOUT SELLING ME! OR EVEN TRYING TO TAKE ME FROM ARTHUR! HE’S MINE! I ONLY TRUST HIM TO USE ME! Even if I know that I won’t always like it…”_ **

“Ok ok, we get it. We won’t sell you. Or take you from the Lad.” Bryn sighs. “But what else do we have to show when we get back to the Guild?”

**_“How about you guys try looking in the treasure room…”_ ** Umbra speaks only to me this time. In a very sarcastic voice.

“Umbra says ‘try the treasure room’. I agree. Let’s go.” I turn and start walking to the newly opened passageway, through the hallway on the other side, and out into a chamber, about the size of the First Entrance Chamber, filled with gold, ebony, and other rare and valuable treasures. 

“Well now…” Karliah is stunned. “That is one treasure room…”

**_“Well now, can you three hurry up?”_ **

“K, you two stuff your bags with as much gold you can fit. As well as your pockets. And everywhere else you can put gold that’s not to weird and disgusting. And then fill your already stuffed storage places with even more so absolutely nothing else can fit. And then put in some more. In the meantime, I’ll fill my satchel with valuable weapons and armor. Let’s go!” Yeah, I know I’m taking this ‘Leader-of-thieves’ thing a little too far, but it’s so fun.

____________________________________________________

 

About three hours of looting the treasure room, four days of walking back to Riften, and hundreds of annoying comments and wake up calls from Umbra, I’m seriously regretting my trip. After looting the treasure, I went back into the Burial Chamber and found my Nightingale Blade and Chillrend. Ever since I got Umbra I’ve been using Him with Chillrend. I have no idea why only those two, but it’s fun. So one we got back to The Guild we loaded up the Vault with all of the gold and valuables from  _ Vulok-Kaask _ . It was beautiful.

 

On the way back from The Ruin, we encountered some lady who told us to stay away from The Northern Edge of The Dragontail Mountains. Never told us why, except it that it has something to do with some so-called ‘Twins of Fire’. I’m going to have to check those out later… But for now, I’m going back to Nightingale Hall to finish reading.

____________________________________________________

 

I walk in through the door of the Hall. As I’m walking over to the bridge I hop up on top of the ledge to look down into the water. When all of a sudden… BOOM! The entire hall shakes as a tremor strikes. The blast throws me into the now raging water below me. The current rushes my down and then in a split second I’m going underwater and getting slammed into the bottom of the water before washing up onto a beach inside of a small cave in the walls of the Hall.

“Where in Oblivion am I…”

**_“Why on Nirn are you asking me?”_ **

“I’m not. That was a rhetorical question. Now shut up.” I get up and start walking to the other side of the cave. There I see a pile of bones lying in a set of what is clearly really old Nightingale Armor.  _ “Damn… So I’m not the first down here…” _ I notice a notebook next to the bones. I can see that it has a waterproofing rune on it so I knew it wasn’t very damaged. I pick it up and cast a simple unlocking spell on the lock. It pops open.   _ “Didn’t expect someone to get a hold of your book did you, you dead fellow?” _ I open it and see that about ten pages in the beginning are completely illegible. 

 

After about an hour of reading and finding a hidden pocket that had a map that described some of the things the journal talked about, I learned roughly that the previous owner was looking for the location of some place called ‘The Fox Hole’ which apparently held some sort of artifact. Whatever that artifact was I couldn’t tell, because its name wasn’t said on any of the pages i could read, but I could tell that it had something to do with Thieves, but that didn’t help me much. Apparently the owner of the journal thought that the Nightingales Knew the exact location of  _ The Fox Hole _ , because they only knew it was in The Rift, so he somehow managed to find Nightingale Hall, kill a Nightingale, and take their armor before sneaking into The Hall. Their last entry depicts how an Earthquake hit and knocked him into the water and into this cave. Then an aftershock hit and collapsed the exit.  _ “The exit hasn’t collapsed for me yet. Better get out of here” _ I quickly lock the Notebook and jump into the water. I swim up tho the surface and crawl out of the cave. No less do I get both feet on land does an aftershock hit and collapse the tunnel behind me.

**_“Damn buddy, that was close.”_ **

“Yeah, thanks ‘Captain Obvious’!” I mutter under my breath as I strip of my wet clothes. “Oops, sorry. Wrong universe again.” I finish drying off and I start dressing.

“Aww… did i come in just a minute to late?” Karliah mocks as she walks in.

“Yup.” I jokingly respond. “Umm… I have something I need to tell you…” Then I proceed to explained everything about the journal and what happened to me in the cave, right before I ask her if she knows anything about this  _ Fox Hole _ .

“Umm… No, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it…” She looks quite concerned. “But it seems to be important… Why don’t we go over to the Guild and see if we can find something on it? And to let Brynjolf know so we could get ready to search for this place.”

“Yeah… That sounds good. Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By The Gods… I am already anticipating the next couple chapters. And if anyone can connect the “Fox Hole” To anything, don’t spoil it for everyone else! This is the intro to the First full story arc. Hope it’s fun. Also, now I'll only be be updating it about once every weekend. So i hope you can wait. See you next Time! Bye!


	3. Moving rock and dead piano. How can this get weirder?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur learns the fall had some... unexpected effects. And he learns his sword is trying to kill him. And they still don't know what they're doing. Like, at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I balanced Arthur out a little. I hope you guys keep reading this. Leave a comment on what you think! Tell your friends!

“Wait wait, there’s a dead guy in the Hall that killed a Nightingale and stole their armor, all to see if there was anything in the Hall that leads them to this…  _ Fox Hole?” _ Brynjolf is just staring at me Intently.

“Uhh… Yeah. I sorta fell into a cave… After an earthquake… That appeared for no reason…” I was still pretty shaken by what happened.  **_“I think that’s going to scar you for life.”_ ** I mentally stare Umbra down.  _ “And you aren’t helping me any.” _

“Yeah, I felt the shaking so I went to investigate and then I walked into Arthur getting dressed,” Karliah explained. “Then he explained everything to me.” Then all of a sudden I tripped as I was walking and then my heart just stopped and I felt like I was going to die. I could barely breathe and I didn’t even hit the ground.

“Arthur! Are you ok??” Karliah rushes over to me.

“I-I ca-can’t… Breath…” I barely manage to gasp that out.

“What’s wrong lad!” Bryn looks at me in sheer horror.

“Wait! Everyone get away from him! Somethings happening to him!” I hear someone shout that before I hear Umbra almost growl in my head;  **_“It’s go time…”_ ** Then the whole world shatters.

**“FWOOM!”**

I feel Umbra grow cold at my side right before a wave of black energy shoots out from my skin. Then I hear screaming as I blackout.

____________________________________________________

 

I wake up on cold hard stone. I groan as I sit up and open my eyes. Then I blink several times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things; The entire city of Riften and the surrounding area for as far as I can see is completely destroyed with the Flagon in the center of it all. The sky is a dark purple and the clouds are black shadows. I look up at the sun only to find that it’s only a slightly brighter shade of purple than the rest of the sky.

“By the Gods… What did I do…” Then I think about Umbra. Then I start to focus on the sword and try to fix the world. Then I pass out again.

____________________________________________________

 

“Whoa, slow down there lad…” I hear an oddly familiar voice caution me as I shoot up from the bed I find myself lying in.

“Brynjolf!” I shout. “What happened!?”

“Well lad, you passed out for three days right after you seemingly exploded in darkness,” Bryn explained. “Then we found you after the air cleared.”

“Was anyone hurt? I heard screaming then…”

“Everybody’s fine… We thought the shadow would hurt us. It didn’t.” I was relieved, but I didn’t feel like bringing up the vision I had while I was passed out. “So what happened that caused you to… Well, explode?”

“I… I think I activated some sort of defense measure in Umbra… It shouldn’t happen again…”   
“I get that lad, but what caused it?”

“I think… I think me tripping when I fell into the cave during the ‘quake traumatized me because now I might… I think I might have an intense fear of tripping now…” I mutter the last bit, embarrassed that I’m afraid of something so simple.

“Well lad, that would make a lot of sense. So if you’re embarrassed about it, don’t be. It’s rational.” Brynjolf actually manages to make me feel better about it.

“Well, thanks Brynjolf. That helps a lot.” Then I proceed to have the first flashback I’ve had in a long while…

____________________________________________________

 

_ “Karliah… Are you ok?” I was hearing oddly Dunmer sounding crying noises. “Is that you?” _

_ “Lea-leave me alone Ar-Arthur…” I could barely hear her. _

_ “No.” I sit down next to her and put my arm around her. “You’re my friend, and I’m going to be here for you. Whether you want me to be or not.” _

_ “We-well, thank yo-you… I’m glad I-I have you…” _

_ “So, are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” I move her hair out of her face. _

_ “Well…” She looked very sad. And it wasn’t just because of the tears. “Arthur… I… I’m in love with you…” _

_ “Well… That’s not exactly what I expected…” _

_ “I’m sorry…” Karliah sighed… “I’ve been in love with you for quite a long time now… And when I learned that there was something between you and Vex…” _

_ “Wait wait, you think there’s something between me and Vex? That was a one-night-stand. We were both drunk and we made mistakes. I don’t even like Vex that way. But apparently, she still thinks I do…” _

_ “Wait so are you saying… You’re still available?” _

_ “Yup.” I chuckled. “So, does that mean you’re asking me out for  a drink my lady?” I held my arm out. Karliah takes it. _

_ “Yes. Yes I am…” _

____________________________________________________

 

My eyes flash open. I know they were only closed for a few seconds, but the memory still flew through my mind. A few days before, Vex and I had a one-night-stand and now she wants to do it again, but I keep finding excuses to avoid it. But later that night after having a few drinks with her, Karliah and I stumbled into the Nightingale Hall and then… well, we slept with each other. After that night her and I have had several other occasions where we’ve... kept each other warm throughout the night.

“What just happened?” Brynjolf was looking at me strangely.

“Nothing. Just tired.” I look at him. “I’m going to go back to the hall to sleep.”

“Alright laddy. Sleep well…”

____________________________________________________

 

“Wow…” Karliah sighs with relief from the bed next to me. “I am so glad we got to do that again… That’s amazing…”

I drape my arm over her naked body. “Oh yes, it is…” Then we hear a door close somewhere in the Hall.

“Quick, get up and get dressed!” Karliah shoots from the bed. Then before she can reach her clothes She all of a sudden finds herself in Thieves Guild armor. “What the…”

“Illusion magic.” Karliah turns to me as I say this only to see I’m wearing Thieves Guild armor as well. “It’s very helpful in situations like this!” Then I flick my wrist and the clothes on the floor disappear. Then Brynjolf opens the door.

“Oh, sorry lad and lassie. Am I intruding?”

“Just get out for a minute!” Then I slam the door in his face with a spell. “Lets actually get dressed.” I dispel the illusion.

A few minutes later we walk out of the room and find Brynjolf waiting outside the door. He pushes himself off the wall and follows us. “Well, you two sure took your sweet little time.” I look back at him with a glare. “But anyway…” He rushes past us and waves for us to follow. “I was looking around the Hall to see if it had an archive or a library, but I didn’t find one behind any of the doors.” He leads us down another hallway and we find ourselves in front of a pile of rubble with a little bit of what looks like a metal door.

“And then you found this door and now you want to check behind it.” I turn to look at him. “Am I right?”

“Obviously you’re right.” Karliah looks at me. “So can you move the rubble?”

“Umm… I don’t know…” Both of them look at me completely surprised.

“But lad! I’ve seen you move more rubble then this before! How do you not know if you can move that?”

“Umm…” I raise my hands and I ready a telekinesis spell. “Here it goes…” I cast the spell on the rubble… And no matter how hard I try, nothing happens. I try it again. Nothing happens. I try one more time. Nothing. “I-I can’t do it! There’s something wrong because my magic isn’t working right!”

“Well, maybe something happened with your magic when you exploded?” Then my hand flies to Umbra; The handle was warm. And this is the point when I realize that Umbra is never warm. The sword is always ice cold to the touch.

“Oh Shit!” I draw Umbra. The blade was dark, the purple glow that it once had was gone. “UMBRA IS DEAD!” I was horrified.  _ “Umbra… please tell me you’re there…” _ No response. “I need someone to kill.”

“Hold there lad, why?”

“Because Umbra needs souls to live. And now that he’s inactive I think we just need to feed him. Preferably black souls if I remember right…”

“Wait, you’re saying we have to kill  _ people _ to give you a talking sword?” Karliah was staring at me in disbelief. “We can’t do that. It’s not worth it for a talking sword!”

“No Karliah. You don’t get it. I can’t use my magic  _ because _ Umbra is dead. I think he’s drawing off my soul so he doesn’t get completely destroyed.”

“Oh…” She looks shocked. So does Brynjolf. “Well then, I guess we have to go kill people. I mean we don’t really want to lose your soul…”

“Lad, we could care less if you died, but we don’t want have to find another Guildmaster again.” I knew Brynjolf was jesting, but I gave him a look of disbelief anyway.

“Brynjolf!” Karliah sharply snips. “Now is not the time for jokes like that!”

“Ok! Sorry! I was just trying to lighten up the mood…”

____________________________________________________

 

A couple hours later I wake up laying in a bed in The Nightingale Hall.  _ “Ugh… what happened…” _ Then all of a sudden I hear a familiar voice.  **_“You and your friends went into a cave looking for bandits and instead found a vampire lord and her cohorts. But you brought me back nonetheless.”_ ** I feel incredibly excited.

“Umbra! You’re back!” Then I feel a pain in my side right before I pass out. Then I realize I only passed out physically. I find my mind in a massive room made out of a dark blueish purple. I hear music. Then I turn and see a Dunmer playing a piano.

“Umbra? Is that you?”

**“Of course it’s me. Welcome to my sword. You’re here while we finish our conversation.”**

“Umm… Ok?”

**“Well, you passed out because you broke your ribs. And that was because you tried to go up against a Vampire Lord by yourself. Stupid move.”**

“Then why can’t I remember anything?”

**“Well, that’s because you hit your head on a boulder and that gave you a severe concussion. Though you should be mostly fine when you wake up.”**

“Ok, then why did you explode?”

**“Well… I don’t exactly know… But anyway, that doesn’t matter. Everyone’s fine. Now you need rest. So… Go. To. SLEEP!”**

And… Then I actually pass out.

____________________________________________________

 

“Ugh…” I wake up in immense pain. “My head hurts…”

“You ok lad?” I hear Brynjolf close by. I open my eyes and look for him in the darkness of the room. My eyes quickly adjust, already used to the darkness. Soon I locate him, lying in another bed a few feet away.

“Besides the fact that my head feels like it just got hit by a giant, and my ribs being shattered, I’m fine. Though I have to ask, why didn’t anyone heal me?”

“Because you never trust anyone else to heal you, you sociopathic bitch.” I had heard Karliah enter the room about a minute back. I knew it was her from her footsteps, but my head hurt to much too mention it.

“It’s about time you say something,” I mumble. “You’ve been in here listening long enough.”

“Wait, you knew she was in here and you didn’t tell me?” Brynjolf was stunned.

“I didn’t feel like it.” I was readying a healing spell when I felt a mental tug from Umbra. “My sword’s hungry. I’m going to go hunting once I’m healed.” Then I cast the spell and grunt in pain as my ribs snapback into place and reattach themselves. Once the spell was finished with its job I got up and unwrapped the bandages from my chest.

“Lad, watch out!” All of a sudden I’m falling. I realize I had stepped on a loose stone and tripped. My fear of tripping kicked in and I started hyperventilating. My state was only made worse when the air was knocked out of me when I hit the ground. I, luckily, caught myself before my head could hit the ground.

“Arthur, are you alright?” Karliah had rushed to my side and was supporting me so I could relax my arms. “Arthur!” I was still catching my breath so all I could do was grunt.  _ “Umbra, talk to her real quick.” _ I feel Umbra nod before a booming voice echoes through the room.  **_“He’s fine Karliah. Let him catch his breath before you ask him questions.”_ **

“Damn, I forgot he could do that” Brynjolf looks slightly terrified as he says this.

“Ok, ok. I’ll wait. I was just worried.” I finally am able to catch my breath.

“I’m ok. I’m fine. I just remembered I have a fear of tripping now.” I stand up, using the other two Nightingales as support. “Now let me go hunting. Umbra is drained still.”

____________________________________________________

 

When Umbra and I come back to the Hall, I hear Brynjolf and Karliah talking over by the metal door. I walk over towards them and I hear part of their conversation, so I get into a crouch and disappear into the shadows so I can listen.

“He’s not well. That sword is killing him. We saw what happened when he didn’t feed it. It made him weak and he couldn’t even cast a simple spell.”

“Telekinesis isn’t even close to a simple spell lass. It’s quite complicated actually.”

“But you know for him it’s simple. Very simple. He cast’s most spells like they’re nothing. The only spells that he actually has to try on are normally the master spells.” I smirk at how Karliah compliments my magic skills. “After all, not is he only a very powerful Breton, but he was trained as an illusion and alteration mage for most of his life before his parents died and his uncle took him in and trained him to be a thief.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. But still, we can’t worry about Arthur to much.” I took this as my cue, so I stood up and walked in the room.

“Well, I mean you can but you don’t have to. I mean you really shouldn’t.” My two partners stared in astonishment. “And also, thanks for the compliment on my magic. But don’t ever say I’m not well because of Umbra. Umbra may weaken me, but he doesn’t kill me. And he also helps me get out my bloodlust.”

“Wait a second lad, you have a bloodlust?” Now Bryn almost looked horrified. “How…”

“For about three years I’ve had a nearly insatiable bloodlust. I don’t know exactly what caused it, but I have to kill in order for me not to feel sick. I don’t know why, but I just do. And Umbra finally gives me a reason to give into the bloodlust.”

“How did we not notice this…” Karliah sounded shocked. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” I almost smiled. “But c’mon, let’s get this door open!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said earlier, leave a comment below. Hope you enjoyed it. tell your friends if you like it! Please and thank you. Also, can't remember if i said this last chapter but I'm going to try- Keyword try- to post a new chapter every weekend. but if I don't, just be patient. I'll get to it eventually.


	4. Now You Know...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Nightingales finally make it into the library, where they find a few things they weren't quite expecting, and uncover some long forgotten secrets... Now let's just all hope they actually find what they're looking for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back after a couple months after disappearing off the face of the Earth. I'm going to do the best to add at least two chapters a month. But enough talk, let's get to the story!

**CREAK...**

I quickly cover my ears as the massive metal door that was behind the ruined tunnel screeches open. I look over at the other two guardians of the Skeleton Key, who also have their ears covered. Once the door is done making our ears bleed, we all uncover our ears and I smile at my friends.

"Looks like my magic's back," I wink as I make lightning leap between my fingers, "Let's see if we found the lost library of the Nightingales, and we might even be able to find what that dead guy was looking for..." I stride into the dark room and flick my wrists to send the lightning on my fingers flying out to strike the torch sconces on the walls." I hear gasps from behind me as I go speechless.

"Bloody Oblivion..." Brynjolf mutters.

"How did I not know this place even existed..." Karliah's face is completely awestruck as the torches on the walls spring up in flames too reveal a massive room. Or, more aptly labeled, a massive library, with the walls lined with book shelves that are stuffed with books.

Old looking books, new looking books, colorful books, dull books, every type of book imaginable could be seen lining the shelves. Although, the majority of the books appeared ruined and damaged. Not only were the walls lined with books, but in the spaces between the shelves and surrounding the pillars were display cases that had magic runes obviously wrapping around their edges. As we walk into the room, I notice that the cases have lots of bits-'n-bobbles inside them. With everything from shining jewels and glimmering blades, to shadowed armor and bottled poisons. I avert my attention down to the runes.

"These... These runes are old. Very, very old," I glance up at Bryn and Karliah, who are both looking at me with a slightly amused, yet slightly impressed looks. "They're probably about as old as some of the markings you can find in Nordic ruins..." I return my gaze to the runes, and I start studying them more deeply. "This one I haven't seen since a book written in the First Era, another of these I've only seen a few times, both in the same ruin that has been abandoned since the end of the dragon war..." The other two were now looking at me in near-total amazement. "Damn... This one I haven't seen before, but it bears similarity with many runes of Daedric origin that haven't been used since the mortal's Second Era, and this one is... well this one is literally an ancient Dovahzul letter, that is normally used to slow aging."

"So... what do all of these runes mean and do?" Bryn now had a confused look plastered on his face.

"Well, these two together would normally cause volatile explosions on anything they're placed on together, but this rune over here counteracts that affect, so these three would normally do nothing, but they seem to instead increase the power and duration of this ancient Dovahzul rune so it would last for a few thousand years, and prevent any aging and damage done by time to anything all four of them are placed on. But due to them ringing the cases, I would assume that not only are the cases affected, so are whatever items that have been placed inside of them. This would be a very effective method of preserving anything that you can't place runes on, or you just don't want to place runes on..." I glance at my companions. "But due to the age of the runes, they're probably not strong enough to handle having the cases open, so if we do end up opening any of these, I'm not sure the exact affects that would happen."

"What do you think might happen though? Just give us a guess." Karliah looks a little excited, probably about the concept of getting her hands on ancient artifacts that could date back to before recorded history.

"Well, no matter what, time is going to resume for the cases and the items inside. But after that, I can only speculate. Though, there are only two logical options. Either one, time will catch up to everything affected by the runes, and they will age all of the time that passed since the runes took affect. Or, two, the only thing that would change would be that the items would now age over time like everything else. I highly doubt there would be anything else that would happen."

" _ **Well good job buddy. You're now a teacher on ancient runes. When are you guys going to start looking through the books so you can find out what the fuck this 'Fox Hole' thing is."**_

 _"Oh, right. You're here. I had forgotten that you were here. I was just having so much fun slipping back into my old ways where I could just explain magic and enchantments without HAVING TO LISTEN TO A SWORD WHISPER IN MY EAR ALL THE TIME!"_ I was trying to project my thoughts as loudly and as savage as I possibly could without it making it look like I'm trying to take a shit.

_**"Well you don't have to be so rude. You could have just said 'may I have some peace as I explain this magic like I used too.' I would've left you alone. So now I guess I'll shut up for awhile."** _

"So I could open one of these if i wanted something inside." Karliah looked even more excited then before.

"Theoretically, you could open one where no-one wants what's inside and see what happens. But there is a possibility that a different thing could happen to different cases. So opening the different cases would be more of a game of chance then an actual certainty." I give Karliah a shrug and a slightly apologetic look.

"Well... why don't we just try opening a few?"

"I agree with her lad. Some of these things i think we might be able to sell for a nice coffer of gold..." Bryn has a mischievous smile plastered across his face.

 _"This... hmm, well I think this is going to be a little risky if we try to open something we are really interested in and it ends up crumbling... but I think it's worth the risk."_ I look up at the others in the room, "Alright. Let's find a few with some things that aren't very valuable and that we aren't interested in, and let's crack the locks and see how this works." I turn to the case behind me and I look into it, and I notice how this one is full of a bunch of poisons that I know for a fact are all very rare. Some of them I've only seen a handful of times, and others I've only ever heard of or dreamed of before. Two of them had labels written in Daedric. "So, we can't test my theories on this case. It has a lot of rare and valuable poisons that I think could be very potent."

"Okay, so why don't we just try this one? The only thing it has in it is an iron sword. It looks like it was forged in the second era, but still. It's not valuable enough to be a terrible loss if it ages forward, right?" Karliah looks at me with an inquisitive look.

"Yeah, get the thing open. And Bryn, hop on over here and get a cracking at this one," I move over to another case that only has a few pieces of dinner and silverware. "This one is safe to risk, so get on it!" Brynjolf and Karliah start working on their respective locks as I meander to a case that I glimpse out of the corner of my eye. I get to it and I look down on this eerie looking bow. It appears to be made out of some kind of living material that has looks of some kind of slimy creature, or a mushroom. I look at the back of the bow, and I notice these flared edges on the front of the bow. Inside the flares, are these mushroom-like designs that just makes the bow look like it's made out of some kind of mushroom even more then before. As I examine the bow an eye opens in the middle of the center flare. The eye is cat-like, with a slit pupil and no iris, only having an orange sclera surrounding it. 

I jump back and shout, causing the eye to widen in either surprise or fright before slamming itself closed. My two friends turn to me and were about to both ask something before I wave them off and flash a (hopefully) reassuring smile.  _"Hey Umbra, did you, um, see what happened with the bow and  that eye, or am I just going mad?"_ I feel Umbra moving around in my mind getting ready to answer. ** _"I'm not answering you since you were rude to me earlier."_** I hear a lot of sassy-ness in Umbra's thoughts and it just makes me angry, even though I expected it.  _"I'm sorry Umbra. I just really like being able to talk about stuff that I know about and enjoy without being_ _interrupted."_ I try to put as much pleading in my voice as I possibly can.  _ **"Ugh, fine. You're forgiven. But back on topic, you aren't going mad. Or at least any more then you already are. There was an eye in the-"**_   Umbra's thoughts are cut off as Karliah shouts out as I hear the lock she was working on clicks as she finds the "sweet spot".

"Ah-hah! I beat both of you to it!" She breaks into a little dance of victory.

I give her a really haughty look to her dance, which she replies with a slightly confused look. I raise my fingers into a snapping position, and with a _crack,_ I send an unlocking spell spiraling towards the case Bryn had been working on, which springs open much to his outrage. I smile at both of them. "Oh, looky here. I opened a lock in a split second. Impressive, isn't it?"

"Damnit lad, I was working on tha-!" Bryn's complaints are cut off as the case I threw open melts into dust behind him, which prompts him to spring around to stare in a mix of disappointment and astonishment at the newly-formed pile of grey dust. "Well... I guess it doesn't matter now who opened it. But it looks like you were right Arthur! Karliah's didn't age forward!"

"Of course I was right. I am the expert on magic here." I glance at the case that has the one-eyed bow. "Bryn, find a case with something in it that can be sold for money, but make sure it isn't to valuable, just in case it ages." Bryn goes over and starts working on another case, and so does Karliah. "Well... now it's my turn." 

I start readying a fairly powerful unlocking spell, that should be able to unlock at least an expert lock. As I get ready to cast the spell, I notice something about the lock that is abnormal, but I don't think about it long enough before I cast the spell, and the lock enveloped with an ethereal glow. I turn and glance at the others.

"Well, anyone else done yet?" I smile as I feel the magic of my spell radiating off of the-  _"Wait... I shouldn't feel anythiIIIING-!"_ The spell backfires in a blast of light which sends me flying back out of the library.

As I untangle myself from my cloak, which had wrapped around me as I was flung through the air, I recalled the abnormality I had seen on the lock. I walk back inside to find that my companions staring at me.

"Not. One. Word." I give both of them that would make Nocturnal want to find a nice, bright, safe place to hide. As I walk back to the case, I look down to the lock to see if I can find what I had seen earlier. Soon I notice a small, blue rune on the top of the lock. "Damn. There's a warding rune on here. A fairly powerful one at that. Magic won't work here without backfiring. I'm going to have to use normal lockpicking tools..."

I slip a few lockpicks out of one of the hidden pockets on my armor, before I slide my tools into the lock, and start twiddling around.

"Click, click... Boom. Done." I pull my tools out and put 'em all away, before raising the lid of the case and reaching for the bow nestled inside.

As my hands close around the handle, I feel it soften beneath my touch, and I stare in utter horror as the bow and the case around it crumble before my eyes. The event causes my mind to be dragged back, back, back, to the memories of a day long gone by...

* * *

_Several dragons were flying around the summit of The Throat of The World, learning the Way of The Voice under Paarthurnax. I was staring out towards the east, watching as the sun raised over the Dragontail Mountains. The rays of morning light were causing the clouds sprinkling the sky that_ _morning to shine with the light of the Gods. A light fog had set down over the horizon and the town of Ivarstead below, at the foot of the mountain. A group of clouds had been swirling around the peak, with the Dovah students flying almost as if they were a sped up mirror image of the clouds._

_"Now that Alduin is dead, the dragons are going to be peaceful. Or at least, as peaceful as they can be. They have war and conquest in their blood. But at least Paarthurnax is keeping them mostly under-wraps." I glance over towards the spirit of an old friend, who's still staring at the sunrise._

_"Are you sure that's the topic you should be thinking about?" The ethereal form of  Martin Septim moved his gaze from the raising sun down to my meditating form. "You are the Laat Dovahkiin. You defeated Alduin, the king of the dov. The dovah see that since you're the one who killed him, you're the new king of the dov."_

_"I'll just give power over to Paarthurnax. I don't feel like I would be able to deal with being-"_

_"You can't just hand over a title like that. Not with the dovah. It's only handed by death, or trial by combat. Which also usually ends in death. But also, any dovah could challenge you to trial by combat for your title. And several of them probably will, due to the fact that you are in a mortal body."_

_"Dovahkiin! Zu'u jur hi wah untak naal vukein, fah tet do jun! (I challenge you to trial by combat, for the title of king!)"  A dragon had rose from behind a ledge pointing into the sky. "Hi los ni kovon fah krund, joor! (You are not fit for the throne, mortal!)"_

_"hi krilon faazrot zey fah nahlii joor? (you dare insult me for being mortal?)" I flipped from the ground and landed in a crouch. I stared straight into the eyes of the dragon, daring him to move closer. "Naal dii zin, ahrk fah dii sos, zu'u eim hin jur! (By my honor, and for my blood, I accept your challenge!)"_

_I had drawn my bow and reached back for an arrow, as a blast of heat enveloped me, and my bow crumbled to ash as I felt my  skin bubble..._

* * *

I had killed the dragon not long after he burned my bow. After the battle, I almost cried. I had lost my Nightingale Bow. It had been a gift from Karliah, and I had told her I would forever keep it safe. I failed. Even though she said it was alright, I still felt bad about it.

"Umm... Arthur, get over here! You're going to want to see this..." Brynjolf and Karliah are standing by a sturdy, wardrobe size glass case.

Inside of the case was a pedestal, with a book sitting on it. Chains made out of dwarven metal wrap around the book, and I can barely make out runes etched on them through the 6-inch thick glass. Then I look to see what the chains were holding, and I scream.

"Nonononononono not again! Get it away, AWAY!" I was racing back from the case, staring at the book inside. "Why the mother fucking shit is there a  **Black Book** in the Nightingale library!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I finally posted a chapter! I hope you all liked it! Also, if I don't post at least two chapters a month, then somebody please, PLEASE, put a comment on the most recent chapter so I'll remember. Anyway, see you guys next chapter, and I hope you guys like my story!


	5. Knowledge is power... And power is scary!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur has to deal with his old demons, and invoke a few favors that he is owed. But it... leads to a few unexpected results. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, and trying to post a lot more frequently then I was. If anyone has any requests for story arc ideas, leave 'em in the comments.

**"FEIM-ZII-GRON!"**

As soon as the words leave my lips, I feel the world fall away for a split second, and I revel in the energy of the universe whirling around me. Most shouts are a rush on energy flooding every cell in my body, but this... This makes me become the energy. It's... Calming. 

As the world comes back to me, my body becomes ectoplasm.The helping hands of Brynjolf and Karliah pass through my body as I shift into an ethereal form. I stand up on my feet and walk through the bodies of my companions, and go right up to the case surrounding the **Black Book**.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing with a  **Black Book** in the Nightingales library, _Hermaeus Mora."_ I lace the last word with enough spite to make Namira curl her lip. "You have no right to have this in the temple of Nocturnal's warriors. This is the sacred ground of one of your brethren, and you have no power here." I then step right into the case, and reach through the chains, and pull the book out of them as I step from the case, holding the cursed object in my grip as my shout finally wears off.

"I HAVE NO POWER HERE..." A dark voice echoes through my head. "BUT YET YOU STILL ATTEMPT TO CONTACT AND COMMUNICATE WITH ME?"

 _**"YEAH WELL, WHY DON'T YOU ANSWER THE BOY BEFORE I TEAR YOUR SOUL TO SHREDS YOU...** _ **DEMON _!"_**

"INTRIGUING... ANOTHER BEING IN THE HEAD OF MY DEAR FORMER CHAMPION... NO MATTER. HOWEVER, THAT BOOK HOLDS SEVERAL SECRETS OF THE NIGHT, AND OF THIEVES. IT WAS CREATED AT NOCTURNAL'S REQUEST, AND STORED HERE FOR THE SAME REASON: SO NIGHTINGALES WON'T EVER FORGET THEIR SECRETS, BUT TO STILL MAKE SURE THAT ONLY THE HARDIEST, AND MOST SKILLED OF THEM COULD ACTUALLY REACH THE GREATEST OF THE KNOWLEDGE... NOW, MAY I LEAVE YOUR DEAR,  _GRACEFUL_ , PRESENCE?"

"Yeah, leave." My comrades look at me strangely. "I'm talking to a god, don't mind me. I glance down at the  **Book** and I get an idea. "I'm going in. I'm going to the Cistern and I'm going to read the book. I'll be in the Vault so no one disturbs me while I'm venturing through the endless stacks of Apocrypha..."

"Lad, are you sure that's  agood idea?" Bryn looks sceptical, and probably rightly so.

_**"I hate to say this, but I agree with campfire-hair."** _

"Bryn, Umbra is calling you Campfire-hair, and yes. I am sure."

**"WULD-NAH-KAST!"**

I fly through the halls of The Hall, running along the walls, twisting and turning at the speed of sound, feeling the power coursing through my veins. I think this must be how dragons feel as they fly through the clouds. I know that I always have that thought when I use this shout, but it must be true.

The Whirlwind Sprint shout makes me feel as if the world stops. A rush of energy jolts through me as I take off, and the worked stands still as I move faster then thought.

* * *

I open my eyes as I finish materializing inside of the **Black Book: Lack of light**. It looks like most of the other ones I've been in: full of paper and books, brimming with endless knowledge. 

"Bah, well I wasn't expecting this!"

I do a double take as I see, standing next to me, a familiar Dunmer form.

"Wait, Umbra??"

"One and only." Umbra casts a spell, and is enveloped in a suit of ebony armor, with veins of purple running through it. "Apparently, since only your mind is here, I can get a body because my mind is drawn in too!" He shrugs and draws... The Umbra sword? I glace at my side and I see I still had the sword at my side.

"Umm... Explain the sword? Actually, don't. I understand. It's... We're made of thought. Ok, I'm fine." 

* * *

"Shit Arthur..." Umbra brandishes his sword high as something climbs from a pool of... Slime? 

I mean, this hasn't been an average jont through Herma's realm. Most of it was filled with... Draugr versions of Nightingales. That per se was strange, but now...

"Oh, oh... OH FUCK THAT'S A SHADOW DRAGON!!" The slime had fallen off a dragon, who's skin is... Non-existent. It's bones are black as night, and are wreathed in a darkness, one akin to the one that surrounds Nocturnal. 

I steal up my nerves and stare into where the eyes should be. "Let's go..."

**"FUS-RO-DAH!"**

Out of every shout, this one rushes me with the most power. I feel as if I can shake all of Nirn. And a simple whisper of this shout, or even just the first word... Makes the ground itself shake. The power, the pure strength, the feeling of being the most powerful being in the universe... It's thrilling.

The dragon is hit with a wall of force, and we here a crack as several bones of the creature fracture. I explode forward, moving with speed and agility I had forgotten I had, and I sliced a hole through the darkness that was used as skin.

"MOVE!" An arc of black lightning sends the best whirling, only for it to be followed by a spear of black ice, and bolt of black flame. I turn, seeing Umbra readying another of his shadow spells.

I raise my hands, after sheathing my sword, and I start casting a spell I made myself: Luck of the draw. The spell was made to make my opponents have inhumanly bad luck. And it worked. The wave of green energy blasted from my body, and the dragon fell seconds later, because a portal opened inside of it.

"Shit... That was intense. And unexpected." Umbra was wiping himself as he lolled his way to me. "I mean, frickin shadow dragons? Really?"

"I'm questioning Nocturnal on this one. And my own sanity." I glance at the remains of the dead thing we just conquered, waiting. 

"Are we going to go read the book? Or..."

"I'm waiting."

"For...?"

"The dragon soul. But this must be a special case. Ok, let's go."

"Alright..." Umbra walks towards the stairs alongside me, sheathing himself along the way. "This'll be fun, won't it?"

"Define 'fun' for you." I give him a glance as we mount the steps to the heart of the  **Book**. 

"I'mma be guessing that's a no..."

We reach the heart, and since I've done this countless times, I reach out and tap the cover three short times, and it opens, revealing words and letters, fluttering around as if they don't want to be seen by mortal eyes. But simply watching them, I learn countless secrets. Soon I have discovered the knowledge I came here seeking.

"Fuck. We're fucked. I know what the Fox Hole hides."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, please leave any ideas or requests in the comments.


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